Impact Evaluation of MotherWise Program

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and
Families (ACF), is conducting an evaluation of healthy marriage and relationship education
(HMRE) programs. Mathematica was awarded a contract by ACF to conduct the evaluation of
selected programs/grantees.This segment of the larger evaluation will focus on the University
of Denver's MotherWise program.

The Mother Wise program will offer relationship education and other supports to low-income
women expecting a baby. The program will have three core components: (1) 18 hours of core
workshop sessions using the Within My Reach relationship education curriculum supplemented
with content on mother-infant relationships; (2) case management services; and (3) optional
relationship education workshops for couples. The evaluation will test the effect of this
full package of services on mothers' relationship outcomes, as well as other outcomes related
to child well-being, such as co-parenting and father involvement. If feasible, the evaluation
will also examine some measures available through hospital records, such as birth weight.

Mother Wise will enroll women who are expecting a baby and those who have had a baby within
the past month.

Control group members will not be eligible for Mother Wise but will be eligible for other
services available in the community.

To document the outcomes of study participants, survey data will be collected at two time
points: (1) a baseline survey administered at study enrollment and (2) a follow-up survey
conducted about a year later. Surveys will be conducted by staff at Mathematica's Survey
Operations Center using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). Survey data may be
supplemented with administrative records data from the Denver Health system.

Inclusion Criteria:

To be eligible, women must be:

1. expecting a baby

2. age 18 or older

3. able to speak Spanish or English

4. non-incarcerated.